I am a little behind on updating my progress here, but I have been in the process of moving. I will start work tomorrow morning at 8:00, and I am quite nervous. Now for the exam results.

I had planned on taking my Series 66 second, but I ended up having to squeeze my insurance testing in between the 7 and 66. I gave myself three weeks to study for the 66 but when I found out that I had to take my insurance test first, that really killed a week of preparation time. The Dept of Insurance here is really picky and you have to sign up for the test 5 days before taking the exam and you have to complete 20hrs of classroom study for each line of authority. Since the 7 covered Variable Annuities, I only had to get 40 hours of training before taking the exam, but I only had one week to complete the course.

The training is delivered as an on-line course through The University of Alabama, which made it possible for me to study long hours to complete the class. I started studying on Monday afternoon and my test was scheduled for Friday morning of the same week. I had to convince the proctor of the class to mail me my Certificate of Completion on Tuesday so it would arrive in the mail in enough time that I could take it with me to the test. After cramming for four day, I had to drive to Tuscaloosa, AL to take the test and then drive to Montgomery, AL to take my results to the ALDOI to get my license issued, and then drive to Birmingham, AL to meet with some people at work. The studying was pretty intense, but the material was very easy. I got to Tuscaloosa to take the computerized test and finished the 150 questions in just over an hour. I came out with a 93%, which is about what I was expecting.

Having lost a week of study to the insurance test, I wasted no time getting to work studying the material for my Series 66 exam. For those of you that don’t know, the Series 66 is the Combined Securities Agent and Investment Adviser Representative exam. It mostly covers state and federal laws such as the Uniform Securities act, The Investment Company Act of 1940, The Securities Act of 1933, The Exchange Act of 1934, and The North American Securities Administrators Association. It is very legalistic and many of the rules are slightly different between state and federal law, which adds a layer of complication. Going into this study process, I knew that I was not going to be able to devote the same level of concentration to my studies as I did for the Series 7 simply because I was tired of studying. I just wanted to pass the test, not try and impress with high scores.

I bought my study materials from Keir Education which included one study book and one practice test book. I took several of the tests and was scoring in the mid 70’s to low 80’s, which is what I was expecting. Two days before my exam was scheduled I talked to one of the recruiting officers at Ameriprise and she recommended that I take some online practice exams put out by Kaplan. These tests are meant to help you find areas of weakness in your study program. So, the night before the test I take one of these tests and it is NOTHING like the questions that I was accustomed to with my other practice exams. I was totally stumped and when it was over I scored a 68. I started to freak out and worry that I was a lot less prepared than I thought I was. My test was the next day at 11:30 so I stayed up till 3:30 reviewing, slept for two hours and was back studying again at 6:00. I then took another of these Kaplan practice tests thinking my late night studies would improve my score. My second attempt was another failure coming in at 62. At this point is is three hours before the exam, I have a 2 hour drive to the test center and I am in full freak out mode.

I was sweating bullets and studing while driving the whole way to the test center. I arrived about 30 minutes early and continued studying. I finally gave up and started the test 30 minutes early. Now I am not a superstisious guy, but when I got put on computer #13 I knew I was done for. I got to the first question and was a little releived. The further I went the more comfortable I got with the test and by the end of 130 questions I was confident  that I had done well on the exam. My score didn’t dissapoint, as I came out with an 80%. Not as good as the Series 7, but much better than I was expecting. I was disappointed by the fact that there was no summary of national scores for the test, so I don’t know how well I did compared to others.

I am finally through with all of my testing, and will begin the 10-week training period this week. I am hoping for the best, and if you need some financial advice you know my e-mail address.

-Ainkurn